A bayonet is, essentially, a dagger or knife that can be attached to the muzzle end of a firearm. In their more recent forms, bayonets have holes in their guards and latch plates at their butt ends. A rifle configured for bayonet mounting typically has a bayonet mount permanently attached to the rifle barrel. A soldier can “fix bayonet” to a rifle by sliding the rifle barrel through the hole in the bayonet guard and latching the bayonet latch plate to the rifle's bayonet mount.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,356 titled “MILITARY BAYONET AND SCABBARD” issued to Finn on Apr. 18, 1989 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,356 teaches a bayonet having a guard (element 12) with “an integral ring 17 for circling the barrel,” a short rectangular tang 22 having a threaded end 23, a tang rod or extension 24, and a latch plate (latching mechanism 14). Beginning at col. 3 line 40, U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,356 describes bayonets in a section title “The Bayonet Generally.” It is for these descriptions and its other teachings of bayonets, the parts of bayonets, the construction of bayonets, and the operation of bayonets that U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,356 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,967 titled “BAYONET SYSTEM INCLUDING BAYONET WITH INTEGRAL TANG AND SCABBARD WITH HAND PROTECTION” issued to Morton et al. on Jan. 21, 1997 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,967 teaches a bayonet having a guard 58 with attachment bore 62 that “fits over the barrel of the rifle,” an integral tang 30 that is part of a single piece blade-and-tang unit 26, and a latch assembly 80. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,967 provides extensive instruction on the parts, assembly, and construction of bayonets. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,967 discusses the US Army M9 bayonet system. It is for its descriptions and its other teachings of bayonets, the parts of bayonets, the construction of bayonets, and the operation of bayonets that U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,967 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Provisional Application 62/219,391 titled “Picatinny Mountable Bayonets” filed Sep. 16, 2015 and which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety disclosed systems and methods for adapting a rail cover equipped firearm to mount bayonets such as military issue bayonets including the US Army M9 bayonet system. U.S. Provisional Application 62/219,391 also discloses systems and methods for producing a knife or bayonet that can be attached directly to a mounting rail. It is for these systems and methods, as well as the others disclosed that U.S. Provisional Application 62/219,391 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Current bayonet systems predominantly attach to a rifle by passing the rifle barrel through a hole in the guard and attaching a latch plate or latch mechanism to a bayonet mount that is welded to or otherwise permanently attached to the rifle barrel. Current firearms often lack the bayonet mount and often have handguards that extend nearly the entire length of the barrel. Improved systems and methods for attaching bayonets to current firearms are needed.